FatedTitan

I've finally come to the conclusion that Treyarch changes a lot of details last minute.

"Well duh!"

Yea yea, I know.  Of course they make changes late in the process.  But I'm talking major changes.  There are some major issues I have with the comic book pages in Black Ops 2.

First is TranZit.  Why the heck does TranZit not having a comic book loading screen?  It makes no sense.  Especially because they immediately go right back to it in Die Rise and have one for NTZ.

Nuketown Zombies is the first comic book page of Black Ops 2.  

The next page is Die Rise.  We can see the Nuketown Zombies loading screen in the upper left hand corner, which is strange because you'd think that's where TranZit's loading screen should be.  But it's not a comic.  Also, what is the picture inserted on the left hand side?  Is that supposed to denote TranZit?

Now this is the one that is SUPER frustrating and why I think they make last minute changes a lot.  The entire left side of the page is wrong.  There should be a rip that fits the other part of the man's face that we can see in Die Rise's loading screen.  Also, the wheel-like thing in the bottom right of Die Rise's loading screen doesn't match the one in the bottom right of this loading screen.  It's completely messed up.

Now, I'm going to do something I don't do very often and post a "leaked"/"fake" image that was released a little before DLC 3 for BO2.  This was before Buried had even been shown.

What's interesting about this is that everything matches up perfect.  You've got the man's face, another picture on the side, just like in Die Rise, and the wheel-like thing looks perfect to what we see in Die Rise.  "But Fated, it's a fake picture."  Is it?  Look in the bottom left panel.  I see a big man's arm (Hello Sloth) and a giant house.  Those are both in Buried.  This image was "leaked" before Buried was even announced.  No one had seen Buried yet.  And somehow, someone gets that right?  

"So what are you saying?"

I'm saying that this is no fake.  This is real and it was "leaked" out early somehow onto the internet.  Between the time it was leaked and the release of DLC 3, Treyarch decided to change the name and the comic book page for Buried.  But why would they do this?  That's what I want to know.  I don't get it.  This is the comic book page after Die Rise, not the Buried one.  But Buried is what will be canon, even though it makes absolutely zero sense and doesn't fit in the comic book at all.  

IN FACT, I can see what they did!  They deleted the comic book that they had made for Buried and took images from the cutscene at the beginning of the game!  That's got to be what happened.  The real question becomes "Why?"  

That my friends, I don't have an answer for.  But I wish Treyarch would stop changing things last minute like this.  It really frustrates me to see this happen.  Myself and others really like when things flow in a storyline, and when you have loading screens that are supposed to be in a story format, but they don't line up at all, it's really annoying and unprofessional.  

What does everyone else think?  Is my presumption right or am I just falling for a good fake?

While it's interesting, you know that I've got a few problems with it.

1.  I don't see how "Meanwhile..." can reference Nuketown Zombies.  It just doesn't fit at all.  If it was in the last panel, then I would understand.  But putting it in the first panel directly after the Shangri-la comic screams that it is referencing Shangri-la.  Now let's look at Shangri-la's loading screen.

This is directly before "Meanwhile..." which I believe is a reference to what is happening right here.  We've got a giant twister, a possible wormhole, and a temple being thrown into the air.  Then, "Meanwhile..."

We see the temple floating through space headed toward the Moon.

Now Lithium made the point that he believes the temple is somewhere on the Moon far away from Griffin Station.  I see why you would say that, as the first and second panel seem to point toward that occurring.  But why make them two panels if they are in the same time frame?  Why not make it just one?

I believe that the panel with Griffin Station on it is at a different time period than the first panel with the temple.  I believe the temple lands at Griffin Station long before Griffin Station is established.

Then we go to Germany.  Richtofen and Shusta are finishing their tests and Richtofen teleports himself.  He feels weightless, because he's on the Moon, but he can breathe without a spacesuit.  This points to him being in an enclosed cavern of sorts.  He teleports inside of the pyramid.  Air is still trapped in the locked room.  Then, after touching the MPD, Richtofen begins to hear voices, then is teleported to Shangri-la.  He's teleported their because that's the point or origin of the MPD.

When Richtofen arrives back, he shows Shusta what he's found and they begin their plans to excavate and investigate this MPD.  They bring excavators to the Moon, not in search of 115, but to get rid of the outer workings of the temple and create a good place for research to be done.  This is why we find remnants of the dropa stones in the Biodome.  The temple used to be here, but no longer is.  Griffin Station is built around that temple and made to investigate the MPD.

2.  We have no evidence of ever going back in time until Origins.  And technically, we don't go back in time there either.  It's more of a flashback, if not just a story told by Sam.  We've always only moved forward in time.  So why would we go to the future (Call of the Dead) then go back in time to the 60s for Moon?  There's not enough evidence that that occurred.  Not to mention that we have things like Die Rise that have calenders of 2025 in them.  If the rockets went off in the 1960s and we have a destroyed city in China, why do they have calendars from 2025?  The evidence in Die Rise points toward Moon occurring in 2025. We've also never seen 115 rip things from one time period into another time period, unless you count the DG-2 overloading the teleporter and sending the crew to the 60s/70s for Kino.  

3.  As you mentioned, how do we explain Marlton and the TranZit bus?  This seems to point toward a 2025 setting as well.

Notice how, in their vagueness, they say that it is set after the events of the multiplayer map, but they don't say when the MP map was set.  We can say the 60s, but are we positive on that?  

 @Slade this group of scientists/astronauts stepping out from the pyramid would make sense.  Richtofen teleported inside of the pyramid.  They didn't fly up to the Moon.  Remember the entire operation was a secret.  They teleported to the Moon through the teleporter Richtofen and Shusta and Groph had, then did their work getting everything set up from there.  It wouldn't be hard to figure out you were in outer space before opening a door and letting the air out.  When you feel weightless, you kinda of catch the hint really fast.  

I will agree with you though that the NTZ loading screen is set in the future.  What that man is doing harnessing all of that 115, I have no idea.  But it definitely does not occur at the time of NTZ or before.  Period.

That's one thing we have to remember with the comics.  They aren't telling the story of what happens on the map while we are there (most of the time).  They're telling the story of how this map got to where it is today now that we're on it.  Why are we on the Moon?  Because of what happened in the comic.  Why are things like they are at Shangri-la?  Because of what happened in the comic.

@MixMasterNut I always find myself coming back to this thread. Just a reminder, I think you still need to add a section in the OP for the 115 extraction drill drawings from ORIGINS that @PINNAZ posted about.

So they were extracting 115 at Nuketown, presumably? I agree with @PINNAZ that this must take place after the nuke, considering the CDC suit. So that means that while we are playing in Nuketown, the giant crater is the crater intended for 115 extraction. Makes a lot of sense, seeing as zombies crawl out of it (not to say they don't spawn from plenty of other places as well).

Also just wanted to chip in that the "wings of the jet plane" section totally reminds me of the drill blade section of the moon loading screen.  I guess it's mostly the angle of the shot that makes me compare them, mostly.

 

     

 

Funny though, that both images are in the bottom right of their respective loading screens.

 

Is there any way that the "Meanwhile" could be a reference to Nuketown, rather then Shangri-La?  I think it would make more sense because we hear Richtofen going through his plans during Nuketown - which obviously means they are happening at the same time.

Because of "Meanwhile..." being in the top panel of the comic, I think it is referencing Shangri-la over Nuketown, especially considering Nuketown probably wasn't even in their thoughts at the time.  Remember that they even admitted to making NTZ based off a fan custom map made during Black Ops that they really enjoyed.  

Also, people are in the CDC suit after the first nuke in Nuketown (from MP map), as we see the hazmats on the characters we play (some of them).  So I don't think we can say the screen is necessarily after the Moon nuke just because of the hazmat, since there are CDC members in hazmats during our play on NTZ.

1. While that may be true, samantha does say teddy is a liar/teddy is the biggest liar on many occasions. Go look up moon sound files if you want.

 

2. I was implying that some part of her soul was left behind in the aether after the events of Richtofen's Grand Scheme, or she is dead. Richtofens quotes in mostly tranzit and even die rise and buried seem to make it clear he has no idea where the original four are. Richtofen can see EVERYTHING so they are either dead or trapped in the aether somewhere. Either way it works for my idea.

 

3. I consider Richtofens side to be the canon one. Maxis' side results in the complete destruction of earth, and richtofen's results in its (at least partial) restoration. And for the story to continue...the latter is more logical.

That's the problem with a game of choices.  You can't make one side canon and the other not canon.  It just doesn't work.  You tick off half your fanbase when you say "Yea you did all that, but none of it was real."

And while Maxis does say that he intends to kill everyone and end the world, he definitely doesn't leave us alone there.  He says he's off to Agartha to search for Samantha.

I wrote something very similar..sorta in a forum called little lost girl. About the demon possesing the MPD only known by the name teddy. In my version, teddy (demon) was trying to use richtofen to gain power and rule the world. However samantha entered the MPD instead, and the demon worked with it. He took on the persona of teddy, representing samanthas teddy bear and her childhood memories. Somewhere in between that point, and the events of Der Riese, Samantha figures out teddy is not who he seems. (judging by the rather haunting writing on the wall stating "teddy is the biggest liar") Fastforward to the events of Cotd-Moon, or Richtofens sceme. Teddy still has a link to richtofen due to him touching the MPD. Under teddy's instruction, Richtofen gathers the artifacts to switch his soul with samantha, which at first makes it seem like teddy is victorious. Samantha warns richtofen and the others that killing zombies gives teddy power. And she says I hate edward but be warned about teddy, he is a liar! Then go to black ops 2 and get more evidence, Especially judging by the song Carrion, the first song "sang" by Richtofen. He is clearly in a difficult power struggle, something is forcing him to make the zombies kill people. "Like a dream where I'm falling and calling out, my resistance is silent. I can't feel and I still can't control myself please forgive me NOW" Teddy has a tight grip on richtofen due to all the zombies killed by the missiles, and additionally the survivors on earth. However, skip to the towers. These towers, in theory... can be used to gain power. Now think about richtofens free will from map to map. In tranzit he pretty much seems useless, unable to provide help to the survivors, but after the easter egg is completed in Richtofen's favor, he teleports the crew to china. Something he was never capable of before. Now notice something odd that happens in Die rise. Stu begins to hear an unknown voice, commanding him to 'mend the rift' and threatening to expose him to the others. But then you hear richtofen talk later, so...thats NOT richtofen. Due to the tower in Washington being lit up, teddy loses a lot of his grip on richtofen, but not all of it. Mending the rift is just a command to light the tower in TEDDY'S favor, or perhaps deactivate the one in tranzit. The rift is causing a hole between teddy and richtofen, making him lose control. Then after lighting Die Rise in Richtofens favor, skip to buried. The rift has become HUGE, due to the tower being lit on die rise. Also notice the voice in Buried is gone. Call it a rewrite because its annoying, but if it was that they would have patched it out of die rise. There is a reason when it's there and isnt. After completing the egg in buried, the trio is complete. Teddy is banished elsewhere, and richtofen gains full power over the aether. With this power he destroys maxis but thats not important. Now comes the crazy part with little evidence. After being banished by richtofen, teddy ends up in an alternate universe. He stumbles upon the broken soul of samantha maxis, convincing her to help him in a plan to return to the original universe and destroy richtofen. Now think about this, why the heck does samantha have an american accent? It's not due to the lack of elena to voice her, as she was there to sing and stuff. Add that on top of the original trailer with samanthas demonic voice. Companies make these trailers months ahead, so how did they have a second one the next day. Again I feel that was for a reason... Teddy is a less appealing voice, so he tried again in another cycle using samantha's new voice. Samantha claims to be trapped in argartha, so why on earth would she need a portal opened to it? She was retrieving her father. Think about it, the final step of the easter egg is throwing the maxis drone containing her fathers brain into the gateway. Then the alternate heroes go into the gateway as well. Now comes the craziest part, but it explains the ending cutscene alot better in my opinion. Samantha..and eddie. Eddy. Teddy. Teddy, the demon and samantha in the broken realm they reside in, bringing MAXIS into. Eddie finally wants a turn, and creepy enough... if you watch the toys, its the alternate original four killing the new four. Then Maxis says to come downstairs quickly...he has a plan. Samantha, Teddy, and Maxis are all working together in the alternate dimension to get revenge on richtofen! Maxis has a plan! 

 

It's just a really weird theory, but read it carefully and think about it. 

Very interesting.  I like a lot of it, but there's some things I'm iffy on.

1.  "Teddy is a liar" was proven to just be Richtofen's Login/Password to the computer system on Moon.  "Login: Teddy.  Password: Is a liar.  I'm not, but that's why no one would guess it!"  I don't think that the demon is Teddy, though I do think there is a demon.

2.  Samantha isn't dead.  She's still on the Moon with the other three as far as we know.  This is why it's interesting that if Maxis gains power, he wants to go to Agartha to rescue Samantha.  Samantha isn't there, she's on the Moon still.  But he's not mistaken.  He's not dumb.  He's going to rescue the Samantha that he met all those years ago in Origins.

3.  You were given an option in Black Ops 2.  While the theory may make sense with Richtofen in charge, what about Maxis in charge?  Remember that the light that teleported the T4 was purple, not blue or red.  

I will say this though.  I really REALLY like your thoughts about the trailers.  I've never thought of it that way.  The demon comes out as Samantha, realizes his voice isn't as appealing and no one would help him, so he goes back in time and redoes the trailer with a little girl voice.  That is great stuff and I'm adding it.  Really helps the Zombies story breach into our reality as well.

Hello everyone.  It's been a while since I've had a good post, but I was thinking today and listening to songs and something came to me.  I know what you're thinking:  "Fated got a theory from the songs?  Shocker! (sarcasm)"  Yea yea well this seems interesting in my mind at least.

So as many know, I've advocated in the past that Richtofen is possessed by a demon.  You can see this through the in-game radios where Richtofen seems completely sane, then he touches the MPD and becomes much more insane in the membrane.  More information of this theory can be found in my signature under the post "Is Richtofen Good? Maxis Evil".

And some of you have seen my post entitled "A Tale of Two Samanthas" that suggests that there is more than one Samantha at play in the story, the Samantha that is Maxis' daughter that we meet on Moon and the Samantha that is found in Origins.

But what if Samantha (Maxis' daughter) was also possessed.  What if there were two demons in the MPD?

Let me tell you where I'm seeing this possibility.

So in Carrion, we can see that Richtofen is struggling for power in his own body, and that it's like someone else is in control and he can do nothing about it.  This is the reason he is asking for forgiveness ("Please forgive me now...").  We see a fight between the two continue in "We All Fall Down", but then we hit Mob of the Dead and we are brought Malukah singing.  No longer is this song from the perspective of Richtofen.  It is from the perspective of a woman.  And with the hidden cyper found in the video for the song put on YouTube by Kevin Sherwood, we have deciphered that if one stands still and dies out in Afterlife Mode on Mob of the Dead at the beginning, there is a different ending that points toward the moon.  This little hint toward what the song references helps a lot.  The only woman left on the Moon is Samantha in Richtofen's body.  And from the song, we can see her questioning what death is like since she is stuck on the moon.

"Always Running" provides a perspective that we haven't yet seen though.  It is still Malukah singing, which states that it is Samantha's thoughts.  This song seems very different from from her wonderings of death.  In this song, it seems as though she's not even fully there.  The entire song seems to be Samantha in a half-state of mind.  She doesn't seem fully there.  But it seems intentional that she isn't there as well.  She seems to have hidden herself within her conscious ("In this buried world of consciousness...").  She doesn't want to be totally there.  But why?  "I am running, from something I'm becoming, unstoppable and I'm coming from the something that I'm running from, becoming one..."  What's she becoming?  Is this the same process we saw with Richtofen.  He seemed sane at the beginning, but slowly began to fade into the madman he would become.  Remember that Samantha and Richtofen are the only two people to touch the MPD.  Could there have been two demons inside of it?

Samantha begins to change throughout the song, fighting to stop the possession, but it comes upon her and she can't stop.  She tries to flee, but can't escape.  Then we have Archangel.

Archangel is just a conglomeration of anger and malice spewed out into a song.  The first verse points toward a demon being within Samantha.

In disguise in the skies 

Burns a fire in my eyes

And I'm holding the world in my hands

So contorted and twisted

Condemned and submissive

When they kneel they'll know where I stand yea

This demon is in disguise as Samantha using her as a way to get back into her position of power.  She seems to feel like she has the power and at one point all will kneel before her.

And as you can see in the song, she seems to feel as though she can destroy the planet whenever she gains her complete power back, but for now she waits for the perfect time.

This isn't the Samantha we've known from Black Ops or World at War.  Sure, that Samantha was a trouble maker and tried to stop Richtofen from taking control, but she wasn't talking about bringing the end to all creation.  She just wanted to stop them for her dad.  This has to be the other Samantha.  The demon Samantha.

As I said in "A Tale of Two Samanthas", Samantha (Maxis' daughter) was probably named after the Samantha he met in Origins and became infatuated with.  Richtofen tells us that Maxis has no daughter.  This demon called "Samantha" wants to do something very evil, but has to be released from her imprisonment.  She's been imprisoned since the Middle Ages when the Knights Templar locked her up, as seen in the cartoon found around the map.  

That's the reason we are fighting the Templars in the Crazy Place.  They're doing their duty to stop this demon from being released.  But we mess it up by releasing her.  This is why you have a German-voice Sam on Moon, but an American-voice Sam on Origins.  

Now, with all that said, there are a few things I don't get.

1.  How does demon Sam get into the MPD to get inside of human Sam?

2.  How much weight can be placed on the songs to tell the story?  If given the time, I could give a long list of everything that Archangel could mean, but that doesn't mean that any of the dozen theories are necessarily right.  Sure, Sherwood and crew have said that they're trying to tell a piece of the story with their songs, but that doesn't mean that it's always clear.

3.  What comes next?  

I'm sure there are plenty of other questions.  I don't know how much of this is new theorizing or if I'm just forgetting that I've posted it before.  It's offseason and I've been trying to capture anything we may have missed.  As many of you know, I love listening to the songs and seeing storyline implications in them.  But they still confuse me on many parts.  As I stated, I could give a gigantic theory of what I think the songs are saying, but I think I've kind of done that over time, but in a lot of different posts.  A lot of it is also hard to explain in writing.  Heck, I'm still of the opinion that what happens in Origins, outside of the beginning and end cutscene, is entirely made up by the little girl Samantha and the only canonical part to it is that they made the story up one night.  Sure seems that way.  But who knows.  #OneMoreYear

Luckily, the only other title Sledgehammer has worked on was MW3, and technically that's IW property.  So I don't we'll see any old maps.

Welcome to CoDz!  Glad to have you here!  I hope you enjoy your stay and you meet some great people and have great times.  Offseason is normally kinda slow, but this one has been okay on activity.  This time next year it'll start kicking up with Treyarch teasers.

But glad you're here and hope you enjoy the site!  Hope to get to know you more as the days pass!

1.  I don't think Maxis programmed himself into the computer.  He speaks through electronics after he dies, as seen throughout Black Ops 2.  When he died, it seems that wherever he went, he gained control of that much.

2.  I've been convinced before that Maxis was killed by Richtofen.  Richtofen knew that Maxis was alive in the Moon radios, even after he tried to kill him in the Der Riese radios.  So why, when hacking the interface on Moon, does Richtofen say "And now you are dead...and your little girl is going to be next!"  How did Richtofen know he was dead if he went to Shi No Numa after telling the scientists to get Maxis to the Moon?  Because he did it.

We could also then, from the previous point, go into Kino's loading screen where Richtofen wonders where "the little girl ran off to", though he already knows.   Sometimes the devs just make mistakes I guess.

Fact?  If it's such fact, why are you the first person I'm hearing propose it?  Can you give me more evidence?  I'd love to be convinced, but I'm just not so sure about it.

I don't think Maxis committed suicide.  I think he was shot by someone, perhaps Richtofen.  Richtofen does seem to believe that he should be dead in Moon.  But he also recognized that Maxis wasn't dead in the Moon radios after Samantha got caught in the MPD.  It would fit.  I'll admit this is one that is up in the air and up to interpretation.

Also, I don't think that's a ball of yarn.  No idea if that was a serious idea, but I just can't agree with it.  Just does not work.  Shooter had a theory last year around Die Rise's release on the balls that was extremely solid.  I'll have to go look for it.

The single players looks really interesting.  We'll see what they show as time goes on.

 

 

Dude, if I can reduce your argument to "everything should be a handout" in one post, I should get into politics...

My bad, lead_psycopath - that comment was directed towards Flammenwerfer saying we wanted "everything for free". I think both sides make valid points, def not trying to attack you or accuse you of saying that haha

.Edit: Thanks clay. Hell I bought some of the MDLC in BO2. It's not ALL bad - but in the bigger picture, it seems like this "pay more for less" method will be ever present and ever growing... and that's what worries me.

Regardless, it makes it more fun, and in the end - I think that's a positive thing.

 

 

 

To your "pay more for less" quote, i think that's a very valid point, and the example i'm thinking of is the BO2 prestige edition.  To advertise that as the only way to have access to nuketown zombies, and then weeks before release to tell people that by buying the season pass (which many many of us would have done anyway) you'd get access to it as well.  That was the biggest bait and switch in call of duty history, and although the micro dlc isn't anything like that, it does seem like it incentivises activision to include less on disc, and then sell more stuff as dlc later on

 

Weeks?  Try the Sunday before release.

 

Sony has now sold 7 million PlayStation 4 consoles.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-04-17-playstation-4-has-sold-7-million-units-worldwide

 

That is impressive stuff.

 

Xbox still hasn't reported their numbers, but I'll assume it's probably around 5 million.

My one issue with numbers at this point is this.  PS4 has released worldwide, if not to a large majority of their supported areas from PS3.  Xbox still has only released to 13 territories, with a ton more to come.  PS4 should be outselling Xbox.  They haven't even opened sales to a large group of people.

I can't believe any rumor like this for one reason.  Xbox is the sponsor for the Call of Duty Championships, providing 100s of thousands of dollars in support of their game.  They aren't just going to give them the finger like that.  If they did, you can say goodbye to your million dollar championship.

Innovation isn't gun camos and Snoop Dogg bloviating the whitest shit possible.

Innovation is in game mechanics and fundamentals. Ghosts already blew it in that department ("oh you can SLIDE?!"). Anything extra is for $$$, $$$, and more $$$. As I said in my post on the 1st, page, CoD has featured famous voices in MP before - so why make it pay for a voice now if not just for the money?

It's adding customization.  Oh you like this camo?  Well we made one and you get all this stuff with it.  Oh you like Snoop Dogg?  He can now do the voice over in game.  You don't like them?  That's fine you can keep playing CoD just as you like it.

Customization is what everyone demands nowadays.  That's why games like League of Legends can make billions off of only selling skins for champions.  Because people like to show themselves in what they do.  I have absolutely no problem with them making micro DLC for fans who want them.  If I don't want them, it doesn't affect me any.  

And couldn't you argue that DLC in any form is the developer just trying to make more money?  Oh you like multiplayer?  We don't require you to do this, but if you like it enough, pay $15 for these four maps!"  It's been happening a long time and just because they've made smaller price points to allow fans more customization, it doesn't mean it's going anywhere anytime soon.

Look at Team Fortress 2.  Millions made off of selling hats that do nothing that someone can wear in game.

 

I think it's selling stuff.  They aren't making the game to be super seriousness all the time.  Why add Michael Myers and Predator?  It's for fun.  If you don't like it, fair enough.  You don't have to buy it.  But for those who think this is hilariously awesome and enjoy Ghosts, then they will buy it.  That's who IW is catering to.

 

I've found that CoDz is super critical of anything IW does, but if Treyarch had done this, it would have been genius and the next Mona Lisa in scale.  

 

Let them make a game for fun.  If they make another MW, people complain.  They do a different story, people complain.  Let them make their game and make DLC that people enjoy.  If you don't like it, you aren't required to buy it.  It's not a sign that they're going downhill.  Most people agree BF4 was the better shooter this year, yet Ghosts will outsold them.  Let that sink in.

 

IW isn't dying or just grasping at straws to sell a product.  They're having fun with their game and allowing others to enjoy it as well instead of it being the same old thing every game.

 

 

 

disagree.  It's exactly what Boom said.  CoD used to be fun on its own merit.  we didnt need michael myers snoop dog or predator to make it fun, it was fun as a stand alone product with its own original content.  Ghosts is obviously not selling well, and IW is now trying to bolster sales of dlc through use of celebrity endorsement and gimmicks aka jumping the shark.

 

If treyarch had done something like this, the criticism from me at least would be the same.  We have all given treyarch plenty of criticism over BO2 zombies.

 

Its quite possible that the main culprit for ghosts sucking is the whole nature of developing for 2 diff generations of consoles. It can be a scapegoat at least

 

 

But proof that CoD is really targeting the lowest common denominator is in the snoop dogg/weed camo/gimmicky map aspects   

 

I can only hope that in 2015 treyarch can make CoD fun because of CoD, not because of a bunch of pop culture gimmicks

 

Yes, whe CoD was new it was fun on it's own merit.  Still is.  But guess what.  When things stayed the same, people complained about it getting boring and stale and all that jazz.  As Flammen said, they're catering to the people who are enjoying the game and want more customization.  No one is forcing you to buy it.  People aren't going to go buy Ghosts just to have Snoop Dogg voice over.  

I swear just because y'all don't like a game doesn't mean you have to hate on anything it does.  It's really saddening that developers can't make add ons for a game that is meant to be enjoyed without it being super criticized.  Let them have fun and let the people who enjoy Ghosts enjoy the content that is being provided.

CoD is far from going anywhere.  I've heard since Black Ops how CoD was falling and how it wouldn't be a franchise next year.  And while I know people that have quit buying CoDs and I'm not the biggest fan anymore myself, I even recognize that they continue to outsell the competition every year.  You know why?  Because people like the fast paced action that CoD delivers and as CoD continues to push competitive play and ranked play in game, you'll see it continue to grow.

And to whoever wrote (I genuinely can't remember...could even be in the quote for all I know) that they're just catering to some teens and 20s that are all about their rap music and 420 smoke weed everyday jokes mentality, you are completely right.  Shocking that a company would cater to the audience that they are reaching.

I think it's selling stuff.  They aren't making the game to be super seriousness all the time.  Why add Michael Myers and Predator?  It's for fun.  If you don't like it, fair enough.  You don't have to buy it.  But for those who think this is hilariously awesome and enjoy Ghosts, then they will buy it.  That's who IW is catering to.

I've found that CoDz is super critical of anything IW does, but if Treyarch had done this, it would have been genius and the next Mona Lisa in scale.  

Let them make a game for fun.  If they make another MW, people complain.  They do a different story, people complain.  Let them make their game and make DLC that people enjoy.  If you don't like it, you aren't required to buy it.  It's not a sign that they're going downhill.  Most people agree BF4 was the better shooter this year, yet Ghosts will outsold them.  Let that sink in.

IW isn't dying or just grasping at straws to sell a product.  They're having fun with their game and allowing others to enjoy it as well instead of it being the same old thing every game.

No Sledgehammer is their own entity working on this year's CoD.

I think it's all in good fun.  Sure, they want to make money.  But when I saw they had Snoop Dogg doing a voice  over, I laughed.  That's hilariously awesome.  And you know it will sell well.  If I played more, I'd probably buy it just so I could have Snoop telling me what to do.

Depends on the time frame.  Right now, Monthly would probably work.  During Zombie season, weekly would probably work better.

The reason I don't think people should vote on it and it should just be a Mod decision is because when there is an outstanding thread, the Mods know about it.  They are all over the forums.  They know what is deserving.

What happens when Shooter has an amazing thread that blows Theorists minds, but only gets 20 responses.  Then you've got Chicken Sandwich thread with tons of responses.  The people vote and Chicken Sandwiches has much more votes because of all the people nominating it because that's all they do on this site.

Let Mods decide.  

Pretty good post, I have a couple of questions though, you may not have considered.

 

 

The writings on the wall, added through trail and error made my Weasel as a guide to get off the island, some wrote on paper, some on the walls in blood. You say that once they reach the end of their loop, it resets and everything starts over like a video recording. Why would the writings remain if it's on a looped track? Perhaps only major changes in a "loop" can disturb the order. We surely have seen writing in just about every map if not all, if even the O4 are in a loop the same question applies.

 

Also, you say that while in Afterlife, you are only aware of your death and the regret that comes with it, upon reviving yourself you lose the memory of being dead. Why then, are there no specific quotes from another player to back this up? Most of the time the person who goes down will revive themselves, and your theory makes perfect sense when thinking that way, but what if another player revives your dying body? I know the revived person would still lose memory but surely if I were laying on the ground dying and you revived me, it would strike you as strange you have no recollection right? It just seems like they would be aware of their ability to die and come back, especially with the quote from Sal, upon approaching a kill switch he says something a long the lines of "If anyone plans on offing themselves I think I found the way to do it". Of course this could just mean they want to try to kill themselves rather than facing zombies and trying to escape, just doesn't sit well with me being they are all hardened killers that live as gangters, which in itself is a kind of survival.

Been a while since I've looked at this thread.  One of my best theories I believe.  Let me see if I can't answer these questions.

We can tell when the order is broken, when Ferguson is killed by Weasel, everything changes.  It goes from a normal prison to something completely different.  The reason the writings don't disappear is because they have not died as they should have.  The three men have not killed Weasel.  The other three did not get the electric chair, as described by Ferguson in the audio.  This was their true death.  Not zombies.  Not electric shock by generators in the prison.  One was shot, three got the electric chair.  Until this is put in the correct order, how it played out in reality, then the world around them will not change back to normal.  This is why the game ends when you do complete this.  When the three kill Weasel then use the electric chairs, the game ends.  There are no more zombies.  The game is back to how it should be.  It's no wonder that the cut scene plays at the beginning of every match.  Because without the death occuring, they'd just be reliving the normal thing that happened all the way back in the early 1930s.

To the characters only being conscious of their death when downed, I'd say listen to the quotes.  When they are down, they talk about their life and what it meant.  They realize their death and they talk about what it means to them.  But when they get back up, no one even acknowledges it.  It's as if they never went down.  They truly believe they are alive when they are fighting the zombies.  That's why Sal can ask who wants to off themselves.  They think that will kill them.  They don't realize they're already dead and the only thing it will do is bring them into this Afterlife mode.  And I agree, it would strike me as strange, but we have to make a distinction.  The O4, when revived, and even the T4, will make references to you helping them up and reviving them.  The M4 will not.  For some reason, perhaps because they are Ghosts, they don't recognize their death while they are up.

What if buried and origins is the same place and where the rift begun must also end?

I'm not sure how this fits into the thread, but I don't believe they are in the same place at all.  Buried is in Africa while Origins is in France.  I believe that we may go back to Der Riese at one point, since when hovering over it, it says something along the lines of this being where it all began, then questioning if this is where it will all end.  -shrugs-

But I'm still a little confused on where this question fits into the thread.  I may have just lost a bit of information that was posted here at one point that I don't realize anymore.

Depends how much you take of Origins as canon.  Looking at the beginning and ending, kind of seems as though the entire thing is a story made up by Samantha.  Now that's only for Origins.  It's not an indicator of the rest of the maps.

Another thought, what if Broken Arrow was CoD Zombie Labs.